Conference Keynote Speaker & Faculty Member – Patti Callahan Henry

Creating a world out of words alone is a privilege. It’s an obsession. It’s a career and a passion and heartbreak. When we first make the choice to write, to tell stories (fiction or non-fiction), we’re on a cliff overlooking a gorgeous landscape and someone (or something) is whispering in our ear, “Go ahead, jump!” And we do.

Then what? We’ve entered this entirely new world, one we love but don’t know. It all seemed simple in theory, right? Put one word after another and then another. Add some commas and periods and question marks. Then we discover that writing is not so easy as that, except for those moments when it is and we become addicted to finding that moment again.

Story is, to me, a way to understand my world and my life. Writing is a doorway into that understanding. We all agree there is a power of story, or we wouldn’t be writing. In Myrtle Beach for the South Carolina Writer’s Workshop in October, let’s talk about to keep moving forward on this path we’ve chosen. Let’s talk about why story is important and how to focus on our own creative life. See you in South Carolina!